HomeDiabetesDiabetes RiskHow your risk of getting diabetes increases by being overweight and other factors is being currently studied.

How your risk of getting diabetes increases by being overweight and other factors is being currently studied.

How your risk of getting diabetes increases by being overweight and other factors is being currently studied.

The current research has shown that those at risk for Type-2 diabetes can completely prevent and most certainly delay the onset of Type-2 diabetes by simply losing weight. The Diabetes Prevention Program or DPP demonstrated that moderate dietary changes together with physical activity can delay and prevent Type-2 diabetes.

Those in the study were overweight and also have high normal blood glucose readings. This creates a condition known as pre-diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance. Being pre-diabetes and overweight are risk factors considered strong for developing Type-2 diabetes. Other risk factors in this study were women with prior history of gestational diabetes and those individuals 60 years old and older.

The study generally showed that anyone can lower the chances of developing diabetes by regular exercise, reducing calorie and fat intake as well as losing just a little weight.

Other areas of concern for pre-diabetic are reducing the level of stress whether it is emotional, physical or mental stress as well as stopping smoking.

The healthcare costs that are associated with the treatment of diabetes are simply staggering with the average cost for an employee with diabetes being over 13 times greater than the expenses that are associated with a healthy employee. That calculates out to $22,000 yearly for an employee with diabetes vs. less than $2000 yearly for a healthy employee. These figures are according to the American Diabetes Association.

Diabetes is an epidemic challenge in America. Of the 16 million who actually have the disease, only half or 8 million of these people know it. In addition, diabetes is the largest cause of amputations, kidney failures and blinding among adults of working-age. 1 of every 7 healthcare dollars are spent on diabetics and 30% of all Medicare dollars are spent on persons with diabetes.

Most researchers theorize that this epidemic of diabetes is caused by our culture’s sedentary lifestyle of TV, computers and video games together with a diet full of fast foods. If you add the ever increasing effects of stress to this sedentary lifestyle, then you have a recipe for continually rising costs of healthcare dollars going to treat diabetes not to mention the cost of workdays lost by employees.

The number of Americans with diabetes or who are pre-diabetic has reached 78 million and this number is due largely to the rise in obesity rate. But all of the life long struggle with this chronic disease can be avoided by losing a little weight, changing diet and exercising regularly.

How your risk of getting diabetes increases by being overweight and other factors is being currently studied.